Claws digging into his palms, Kasan watched the shokan panting on
the ground. It was hard not to yell at the thing to get up and find
Max, but he knew it was trying. It looked up at him with pained eyes
and he swallowed. No, not ‘it.’ He. If the shokan was helping them save
Max, he at least deserved some acknowledgement beyond ‘thing.’

And Ando-kees was trying; they could all see that. As soon as his
wounds had stopped bleeding, Ando-kees had attempted to rise. His back
legs had collapsed instantly, ripping open the stitches on one side.
After sewing him back up again, Uncle Frodi finally added a few
piercings, warily, watching Ando-kees for any sign that he was about to
take a swipe with his claws.

Kasan glanced at the scabbed wound on Ando-kees’ side, searching for
the metal hoops that were already gone. He’d always known that shokan
nanites were different, but he’d never seen them in action before.
Zonta used to blather on about it all the time, the Saviors using what
they had on hand to try and combat the kouloc: medical nanites of their
own invention, barely more than a prototype themselves, better at
healing than destroying the disease. Aosh usually tuned that all out
until Zonta starting discussing the technology. A number of species
that had caught the kouloc in the end had been used to try and perfect
the nanites, but the shokan were the first one it worked on. Maybe only
one in four couples made it through the heat, but it was better than
none at all.

And the tradeoff in rapid healing was…amazing. Kasan never actually
witnessed a piece of metal dismantled by nanites so fast that is was
visible to the naked eye.

And he’d never been more grateful to see anything in his entire life.
When Ando-kees first collapsed, Kasan had nearly dropped to his knees
with him. The big animal was their best chance at finding Max. But now,
Kasan could already see Ando-kees gearing himself for another try. The
stitches had absorbed along with the metal hoops, and if the healing
was just far enough along….

Ando-kees shook as he tried to regain his feet and Kasan held his
breath along with the rest of the waiting men. There was an
uncomfortable grunt, and the shokan wobbled, but he didn’t go down. He
took a step and kept his feet. Kasan met Leero’s eyes and saw the same
triumphant rage there that he felt in his own gut: now they could go
get Max, and destroy Waran. They had brought in extra weapons, just in
case, and most now had a spear in one hand and a long knife or shield
in the other.

Kasan glanced quickly at the others around them, making sure no one was
there who shouldn’t be. No guards with female consorts or mates – they
couldn’t afford to lose anyone who had a chance at having children.
Roto was watching Aosh. Tisu was guiding other groups through the city
to keep searching. Nolluz was talking with their allies about some
problem on Tien’sa involving Max’s family. And Jolan and Ko were
directing everything from inside the citadel.

They’d wanted to come, but father had claimed first right in hunting
down Shovak now that his people had attacked the family again. Leero
stood next to him on the other side of Ando-kees, red collar twisted up
on itself and hanging down his bare chest.

Zonta hovered behind them, clutching his spear awkwardly. They’d all
tried to get him to stay back, too, but Zonta had simply stared at them
as they talked, and then stated that he was coming and he’d accept
whatever punishment they deemed necessary afterward. Kasan was farily
certain that even if they locked him in with Aosh, he’d find a way out.
Better to have him with them, then, rather than unprepared and on his
own.

Kasan heard a sharp intake of breath and stared at Andro-kees again.
He’d taken another step. The couple dozen cousins surrounding them held
their breath. One more step, then another, then three steps without
falling. Someone let out a quickly shushed cheer. Andro-kees managed a
fourth with a heavy limp, back legs still not working properly, but he
was stable. He could move. He could find Max.

Everybody in the corridor quivered, trying to gauge where the shokan
was going. It stumbled once and they scattered. The thing might not
have attacked anyone yet, but no one was comfortable around it. One
irritated moment and a swipe of claws could gut them. Even the Elders,
although they had approved, were cautious.

Every man in the passageway had a vial of antidote to the shokan’s poison. It was probably the city’s entire supply.

Ando-kees slowly turned, falling once to lean against the wall, and
trundled back the way he’d first come from Kasan’s room. Kasan followed
as closely as he could manage, backing off a couple feet when the
shokan paused to glare at him before it started moving again. There was
silence behind him for a few moments and then everyone else gathered
their courage and followed.

He glanced back. Men’s faces just as grim as his own filled the corridor. He hoped they wouldn’t all be needed.

He hoped they could all be trusted more than Waran.

Keeping pace with Ando-kees, Kasan stumbled himself, pain flaring
through his veins. He shook his head as Leero opened his mouth to
comment. Kasan wasn’t down yet, just…damaged. Even thinking about how
close he was to the heat’s edge brought Max to mind and he tried to
banish the image. He couldn’t think of what might be happening to Max
or he couldn’t function. How easily anyone could restrain the little
one, or hurt him, made Kasan froth at the mouth.

Kasan growled low, his hand shaking around the heavy spear. If those
fucking bastards damaged one fingertip of Max’s, they’d find out that
Kasan was tougher than all of them put together. He wouldn’t leave them
with so much as a strip of skin still attached.

Keeping his eye on Ando-kees, Kasan tried to avoid looking down. The
dried blood trail from Aosh and Ando-kees had been cleaned, but Kasan
knew exactly where it had flowed over the floor. He didn’t want the
reminder.

The shokan stopped at a corner, looking between the hallway ahead of
them and the passage on either side. Kasan froze. Ando-kees
lifted his head, scenting the air. Kasan couldn’t catch even a hint of
Max’s scent anymore, but seeing the beast looking brought the sweet
smell to mind. It made his chest ache, remembering the strong smell of
fear that had laid over it.

The shokan shook out his broad head, fur fluffing around his ears. They
flattened against his skull and the eyes narrowed dangerously. Kasan
backed off as it growled. With a snarl, Ando-kees turned to the left
and stumbled down another corridor, growling as he went, picking up
speed.

This wasn’t the way to Kasan’s room; it wasn’t where the blood trail had gone. Ando-kees had them. He’d found Max’s trail!

While everyone came after them, Kyoru sent off a runner to the nearest
box to keep the Elders updated on their progress. There were a few
hand-held boxes, but no one in Kasan’s group had them. They’d be more
useful to the search parties in the city, where permanent boxes were
rare and communication would be more difficult.

Leero made his way up to Kasan so that they trotted side by side,
scanning the side corridors as they passed, just in case. The shokan
paused at another intersection of corridors and picked another
direction, then another, then they were on a long stretch headed into
the residential quarters. Where the hell had Waran gone? Was this why
they couldn’t find him: he was hiding somewhere inside the citadel?

“Max will be all right,” Leero said.

Kasan nodded, gripping the spear tighter and ignoring the pain enveloping his body to keep up with Ando-kees.

“We’ll find him, Kasan. I let you down before-”

Kasan glanced at him while they moved. “Don’t be ridiculous. When have you let me down?”

Leero’s ears were flat against his head, the too-bright green of his
mid-heat eyes highlighted by the deep red of the collar around his
throat. A flush covered him from his face down to the mounds of his
chest. “You would have died in that cell, if Max hadn’t been brought to
you.”

“That’s Shovak’s fault, not yours.”

“And now…you’re newly mated. I’m the one who’s responsible for the
guards when you’re otherwise occupied, Kasan. I’m the one who should
have seen what Waran was, but I- I can never apologize enough for what
my own negligence has brought to you and your consort.” Leero’s voice
was a whisper at the end. He stared after the shokan like it offered
salvation. Kasan whipped out a hand and slapped the back of his hand
against Leero’s chest with a meaty thump.

“Shut the hell up, Leero.” Leero stared at Kasan, his face looking
almost as feverish as Kasan felt. “It is not your damn fault for
anything but letting Max go when he pissed on you. Shovak is at fault.
Waran is at fault.” I’m at fault. “But not you.”

Leero blinked at him with too blank eyes.

“Leero?” Kasan had to turn away for a moment to follow the shokan as it
turned another corner, and Leero looked a little less dazed when he
looked back at his face. “Leero…how long have you been in heat? You’re
not close, are you? Don’t you fucking dare come along on this if you’re
too close and-”

Leero shook his head. “No, it’s only been a few days. I’ve got over a
week, yet.” He rubbed absently at the spot Kasan had slapped. “And I
know what I’m culpable for, Kasan. I’m responsible for my own actions.”
He turned his eyes to Kasan, not even looking where his feet stepped.
“I just wanted you to know that no matter what happens, I’ll make sure
Max is all right. I’ll watch out for him, if he… if he can survive
without his mate.”

Kasan looked back behind the others behind them, wincing. He had to
believe Max couldn’t contract the kouloc or he might go insane. “Thank
you,” he said, voice hoarse. He cleared his throat. “I’d rather you
take care of father, first. He shouldn’t be coming. Shovak might have
something planned.”

Leero stared back at the Lord King as well; he got a questioning
eyebrow quirked in his direction from the larger man jogging behind
them, and then they both faced forward. “I’d never be able to stop him;
he’s too stubborn. But I’ll stay close.”

Kasan was moving too quickly to thank him again. He wished he could
take the undeserved guilt out of Leero’s eyes, but he settled for
nodding and following Ando-kees further into the residential area. If
they were lucky, maybe Max’s disappearance had been discovered early
enough that Waran hadn’t been able to leave the area. If he and Quim
had been thinking of stashing Max away until things died down, they
wouldn’t expect to be found, not with the citadel’s defenses in place.

They wouldn’t think to be careful about a shokan sniffing them out.

Kasan’s lips compressed to the point of pain and he doggedly followed Ando-kees around another curving corner.

“What the hell!” Someone had come out of their apartment and let out a
shocked scream at the sight of Ando-kees. Kasan knew that the Elders
had sent word out, but coming face to face with a shokan was shocking
no matter how well prepared you were.

One of the guards stopped to urge the man back into his rooms until
everything had been taken care of, or go offer his services to some of
the other search parties already in the city and other areas of the
citadel. A few more women and men poked their heads out – all the rooms
were residential in this area – and Kasan let the others field the
questions. He was following the shokan, feeling a growing urgency to
find Max and ensure that he was all right and unharmed. His belly
burned acidly.

They made a few more turns and Kasan suspected he knew where they might
be headed. Someplace few people would look, that would be out of the
way. He growled under his breath as the corridor they were on curved
around to the right and Kasan saw the doors to one of the family
storage rooms come into sight. Ando-kees headed straight for it.

“We’ve fucking got him, Kasan,” Leero snarled.

Kasan couldn’t even nod; he was vibrating with the need to get to Max.
They were almost there. There was only one exit from the storage room.
Max was in there. But if
Waran were cornered, he might be more vicious. He might try to hold Max
hostage…he might be capable of anything if he didn’t even care if Aosh
were killed.

Ando-kees stopped at the door, looking back at Kasan. He didn’t paw it, but his impatience was clear.

At least he’d make a good distraction. “I’m going straight for Max.”
Kasan didn’t need to say it; everyone had already figured out what
their role would be, whether their trail led to a room or a hunt
through the city. But somehow getting the words out, and hearing them,
helped center himself.

He would get Max out unharmed.

Leero nodded. “And I’ll guard your back.”

The men piled up behind them and Kyoru stepped up next to Leero and put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll
guard your back.” Leero jumped at the touch of his hand, looking back
up behind him. That wasn’t what they’d agreed on. “They aren’t getting
a chance to harm another of my sons.”

Leero took a shaky breath – his eyes were glowing green now with the dimmer light outside the storage room – and nodded. “We.”

Kasan tightened his hand over his weapons, and kept his voice low as he
turned behind him. “Keep a look out for the guard inside. He might not
be involved, but don’t take any chances.” The others close enough
to hear nodded – he saw Niku and Davin near the front - and Kasan heard
the order passed back to the others.

As soon as they triggered the door, the heavy slab slid open.
Andro-kees leapt inside. No one yelled out in surprise, and Ando-kees
didn’t act as though he saw another soul, so Kasan took a chance.
Rather than scan first with Leero from the other side of the doorway,
he simply went in low and silent, slipping to the side. He saw Leero
and his father shift to the other side and knew the men would be coming
in behind him. Ando-kees was already bounding down one of the aisles
and Kasan tried to scan everywhere around him while he kept up.

The broad desk in the corner was empty, and the brief glimpse of the
aisles he had before he was running down one of them were empty as
well. There was no sound other than his breathing, the shush of his
loincloth against his legs, and the faint brush of bare feet against
the stone floor behind him, his men spreading out to check the other
aisles.

Max was silent. Kasan’s claws emerged, digging into the haft of his
spear as he imagined what it would take to keep Max that quiet.

Ando-kees turned a corner among the high shelves and Kasan followed,
staying low, counting on Waran’s shock at seeing Ando-kees to give him
warning when they’d found him.

There was still no sound. Kasan couldn’t smell them. And with no sound
and no scent, Kasan’s hackles were rising. What was wrong? Why couldn’t
he smell Max? Even with the citadel trying to rid itself of the scent,
there should be something with Max still in the room.

Ando-kees couldn’t have lost the trail, could he?

Another corner and Kasan realized they’d reached the end of the room.
Expecting Ando-kees to turn left or right, he wasn’t prepared when the
beast stopped dead. He had to throw himself backward not to run into
it. He heard Leero and his father do the same behind him.

Ando-kees didn’t move, staring at the wall, blocking Kasan’s view. For
a horrified moment, Kasan couldn’t breathe, sure that the animal must
have discovered Max. Max in some condition that he wasn’t making a
single sound, not even the soft sigh of his breathing, and that’s why-

He shoved Ando-kees out of the way, slamming his shoulders against its
side and ignoring the growl. His lungs started working again as he
realized there was no small, broken body on the floor. Kasan shuddered
as he struggled, gasping, unable to move as his heart tried to restart.

Nothing but the wall. Thank God.

But…nothing but the wall. Where was Max?!

Ando-kees gave another growl and bumped Kasan out of the way so hard he
stumbled and nearly fell onto his ass. The shokan sniffed along the
edge of the wall and finally started a frantic digging at the floor
with his nails.

Pain flared in Kasan’s veins, coursing through his body, and Kasan bent
over at the waist, panting his way through it. Leero and his father
were at his side by the time the heat spike finished. Ando-kees was
still digging at the wall. A few of the other men had made their way
through the aisles and were making negative signals for finding anyone.

“What is it doing?” Leero whispered. “It acts like they’ve gone through the wall.”

Ando-kees paused, looked over at them with a rather scornful
expression, and went back to digging. Kasan stood behind him, staring
at the wall, a suspicion growing in his mind that he didn’t even want
to contemplate.

The citadel was riddled with secret tunnels to various Havens, but
there hadn’t been a complete list of the havens for centuries. Every
once in a while they stumbled over one, and the booksters worked on the
mechanism for opening the doors. But that took weeks, sometimes even
months, to do. If Waran had escaped into an unknown haven, he and Quim
could already be out of the city with Max.

Kasan didn’t have weeks to figure out how to get through this damned
thing. And the thought of what the purists might do to Max in the
meantime….

“Shit!” Kasan slammed his hand against the wall, pressing his head
against it until his ears crumpled. Ando-kees continued scraping his
claws against the stone, favoring one of his legs. The sound grated
against Kasan’s ears. The men were collecting behind them, emerging
from aisles up and down the room, still finding nothing. The shokan’s
dedicated clawing made Kasan sure that there wouldn’t be anything, or
anyone, for them to find.

He clenched his eyes shut as Ando-kees let out a small, mournful howl.
The rhythmic scraping of his claws didn’t let up for a moment. Turning
his head, feeling his eyes tear at being so fucking close but stopped
by his own damned home, he snapped at it. “Stop it, you stupid beast!
You can’t-”

Kasan caught a whiff of Waran’s scent against the wall and his nose twitched.

He hadn’t detected it until he was up close to the stone, but it was
definitely there. Bastard must have triggered the secret door himself;
the citadel always did take longer to get the scent off the walls.

Kasan inhaled again, eyes widening.

It took longer to get the scent off the walls.

“He’s touched this section of the wall,” Kasan murmured. His head
snapped back and he turned, grabbing Leero. “Here, put your hand right
here. Don’t move it!”

Leero laid his hand over the spot while Kasan pressed his face close to
the wall and started to sniff in great bursts of air. He shouldered
Ando-kees to the side again. It made a growling harrumph and then sat
on its haunches and watched with flat eyes.

“Kasan, what are you doing?”

“I can tell what he’s touched. There’s still enough scent left!”

Leero leaned forward to sniff next to his own hand and shook his head. “Glad we have your nose with us,” he murmured.

“So am I.” Another block of stone was bright with scent “Here! I need
someone to mark this spot, too!” His father stepped up and pressed a
hand against stone. Kasan looked up to find him grinning fiercely.

Kasan grinned back, just as feral; all he could think about was sinking his teeth into Waran and getting back Max.

He had more of the family mark two other spots as he found them,
finally stopping after he went over their section of the wall twice
more. Ando-kees watched them all carefully, not growling at anyone who
touched the wall, but narrowing its eyes at everyone else to keep their
distance. Rui hunted down some sticky strip to mark off the four blocks
of stone. One of Kasan’s cousins went to the box outside the door to
keep the Elders and Jolan updated again and arrange for more help. If
they had to leave the citadel and enter a Haven, who knew how many
people they might have to be dealing with?

Before they’d finished with the sticky, Zonta moved up to the blocks of
stone, staring at it. Mumbling under his breath, he almost bumped into
Leero without noticing until Leero got out of his way. Ando-kees tilted
his head oddly to watch, nostrils flaring, and Kasan was glad Zonta
barely even saw the animal. It might break his concentration. Baby
brother hadn’t yet deciphered the patterns to open any of the lost
escape tunnels – he’d been too young when the last one was found – but
Kasan knew he’d researched it.

Most littles dreamed of finding one of the lost Havens and making it
their secret hideaway. Zonta and Aosh had been worse than most,
when they’d been small. Between the two of them, they’d probably
researched more about this than all the archivists put together. With
Aosh unconscious and injured, Zonta was the best hope they had.

“Can you get it open?”

Auburn hair curling in frazzled strands near his forehead, Zonta nodded
curtly. His eyes hadn’t lost the strained look they’d developed since
he’d seen Aosh bleeding all over the floor.

“What do you need me to-”

“I need you to be quiet.” Zonta answered before Kasan even finished the
question. He sighed and rubbed his hands back over his ears once,
closing his eyes. “Please.”

Ando-kees turned his head to stare at Kasan and bared a fang at him
before watching Zonta again. After a deep breath, Zonta stepped up to
the wall and tapped at the blocks, one after the other, changing the
order each time and pausing after each try. His ears flattened against
his head the more attempts he made that failed. Kasan’s tail started
lashing and he accidentally hit Zonta’s leg.

Zonta tensed even more. “I’m going as fast as I can, Kasan.”

“I know.” It was just that Max was in trouble and he wanted to be after him now.

His father pulled him away. “Son, stay calm, remember?” Kyoru said softly.

Kasan breathed deeply, doing his best to ignore the pain in his limbs
and his gut, and worse, the thoughts of Max and everything that could
happen while they were trapped behind this damned stone wall.

Another minute passed, Zonta steadily working his way over the blocks
as they all let him be. When another minute went by with no change,
Kasan gnawed at his lip to keep from saying something, but he couldn’t
help it in the end. “Zonta, how long-”

“Most of the tunnel triggers in our citadel use a block only once,
which means with four blocks, there’s only 24 combinations. Since you
were able to identify the triggers, it won’t take long to check.”

Kasan caught the edge to his voice and swallowed. “What about if we might have to touch a spot more than once?”

“Then it’s over 200 combinations. Which means I don’t have time to talk to you about it and lose my place, so please, Kasan, be quiet.”

Kasan waited impatiently but held his tongue, even when another wave of
pain would have dropped him to his knees if not for Leero and his
father’s support.

When he heard the sliding grind that was the wall pulling back, at
first Kasan thought it was his imagination. But Ando-kees flattened
against the ground and Kasan crouched automatically in response. Zonta
stumbled back, startled even if this had been what he’d been trying to
achieve.

Kasan slid to the side. Ando-kees hadn’t leaped through the doorway and
Kasan was worried as to why. There was always the slight chance that
someone was coming out, or lying in wait just inside the tunnel
opening.

He didn’t have a chance to see anything other than the open corridor
stretching on ahead of them, however, because Ando-kees suddenly leapt
through the opening. He stumbled, his hind leg nearly collapsing, then
righted himself and limped quickly down the passageway.

“Dammit, wait, beast!” The animal ignored him and Kasan swore under his
breath. “Zonta, stay here and wait for the others. You can
come in with one of their teams, but I need you to tell them where
we’ve gone. We have to keep up with the shokan.”

“But-”

“We’ll box you if we can.” Kasan heard his father murmur. “We’re not
keeping you out. Just come with the next group of guards. Stay safe.”

Zonta’s protests faded behind Kasan as he trotted forward to catch up
with Ando-kees. That was the best they could do for his brother, keep
him out of the main fight and leave him part of the clean up. Hopefully.

If they were lucky, they’d be able to find a working box in the haven.
Hand-boxes didn’t work inside them, not well enough to reach anyone in
the citadel. But there were always a few on the walls. It was whether
they worked or not that was the issue.

The tunnel sloped down, lights dimmer than those in the citadel. The
floor wasn’t as uniformly smooth, either. This had to be one of the
earliest havens; all but the first few matched the citadel for color
and polish. Kasan tried to see ahead past Ando-kees, but the tunnel had
a slight curve that wove back and forth. There were no doors or side
tunnels.

Ando-kees moved quickly, but his first few bounds had slowed to a
rapid, limping walk with pauses to sniff the air. Crude placards
decorated the walls every few feet and Kasan read them quickly as they
went past. Encouragement, advice about how to close the tunnel doors
behind them if raiders were in pursuit, details about supplies and
where to find them in the Haven. But no information that was useful. No
actual map – probably didn’t have that until they’d made it into the
Haven itself.

And it wasn’t as though they knew where Waran was holding Max. They’d need the shokan’s nose for that.

Ando-kees slowed and Kasan stumbled, pain putting a bob in his step.
His father and Leero were right behind and caught him between them,
helping him through it. “You should go back and stay with Jolan,
father,” Kasan gasped out, trying to move – he couldn’t lose Ando-kees
and the shokan wasn’t stopping. With a wobble, Kasan managed a few
steps, gritting his teeth until the pain ebbed to a dull burn.

“Worry about yourself and your consort, Kasan, not me. I’m doing what I
need to do.” Kyoru let go so Kasan could continue under his own power.

Kasan didn’t try to argue again. He knew his father well enough to
recognize the body language. Ears flat, teeth bared – he wasn’t going
to change his mind.

They continued in silence, long minutes of breathing and sweat and dust
scented air. Kasan kept his eyes forward, banishing thoughts of Max in
order to keep putting one foot in front of the other. His little one
was down here somewhere. They’d find him. They had to.

Kasan had panted his way through two more nasty heat spikes by the time
the tunnel finally led to the Haven. He only realized how lucky they
were when they passed the massive door designed to seal it off from the
citadel in case of slavers or invaders. If the purists had bothered to
close this door rather than rely on the Haven remaining a secret, Kasan
never would have made it through.

Swallowing, Kasan slowed to match Ando-kees’ pace. The scents of the
place changed, now. People, food, a small hint of blood and urine.
Ando-kees walked carefully, but he didn’t pause as he followed his nose
through the doorway and to the left. Kasan glanced right into the empty
hallway and went after the shokan. A placard with a map was up on the
wall opposite the entrance and Kasan tried to hiss at Ando-kees to stop
so he could look at it, but the beast ignored him.

Cursing, Kasan paused long enough to get an impression. He cursed again
almost immediately. This wasn’t one of the small emergency havens. This
was one meant to house a good portion of the population. It was huge.
He scanned for areas that they might need to know: dormitories, cells,
kitchens and, most important, exits and entrances. He stumbled after
Ando-kees, hearing the same annoyed cursing from the men behind him as
they tried to pick up details from the map. He thought he heard someone
pulling out a hand-comp to sketch it out.

The corridor they were in now was as dimly lit as the tunnel leading to
the citadel, but there were numerous doors and hallways leading off
from it. Everyone was tense and growing tenser, keeping watch for
anyone who might catch them unaware. The longer they remained
undetected, the better it would be for Max. Kasan didn’t want Waran or
anyone else to think they could use him as a hostage.

Following Ando-kees straight down the corridor as they crossed another
side passage, Kasan turned to whisper to his father. “I-” There was a
shout from the right.

Everyone but the beast stopped. Three purists stood flat-footed in the
middle of the side hallway, shocked. Two of them charged and the third
turned to run.

“Shit!” Kasan and Leero looked at each other and gave a quick nod.
Kasan ran after Ando-kees with half the men, and Leero took the others
to the side with Kyoru. They had to keep anyone from knowing they were
there until they found Max!

Kasan heard them meet each other, a short scream, grunts and scuffling,
and he caught the iron tang of blood before he and the others were too
far to sense any more. But Leero and Kyoru didn’t come up behind them
immediately. Kasan’s shoulders tightened and he focused on Ando-kees to
keep himself sane.

If they didn’t catch that one who’d fled, and if he somehow got word to Waran that they were here…

They had to find Max now.

“Kasan…” Davin stepped up to him with his consort, Mick. They kept him
from stumbling against a wall that he hadn’t even realized he was close
to. Both their eyes were worried. “You can rest here. We’ll find the
little one. You don’t have to-”

“I need to find Max.” Kasan pulled himself free, barely, and stumbled
again behind Ando-kees. “Can’t you go any faster?” he muttered at the
thing. It looked back at him and stumbled itself, barely picking up
speed, but it was something.

He could hear Niku murmuring to Davin and Mick behind him but he
ignored it. Max was the only thing that mattered. As long as he stayed
upright and moving, following Ando-kees, he’d find Max. Eyes on the
shokan’s feet, part of him noted the small details around them through
a haze of pain.

The walls were still rough and gouged, done speedily, early work when
slavers were still a huge threat. The lights remained dim. The dust at
the sides of the corridors disappeared with a wide clear space in the
middle of the hallway. He knew some of his men would be making small
streaks in the dust up close to the edges of the hallway, to mark the
way for Father and the others when they came. But the lack of dust in
the middle matched what Kasan was scenting in the air. This hall was
well traveled.

This wasn’t simply a large Haven; it was a large Haven with a large
number of people. Kasan couldn’t even imagine how many people would
willingly engage in betraying the family; he hoped most of them were
outsiders. Not that it made them any less of a problem, but better that
than they end up fighting members of their own families. And no matter
what, they might have a real fight on their hands. More people
meant it could take longer to get to Max. It meant more time for them
to hurt Max.

Better for them all if this place was empty as a tomb.

Another spike of heat sliced through him and Kasan felt his spear
slipping in his hand as he convulsed. He clutched at it, keeping his
feet by sheer luck. He tightened his other hand and realized that he’d
dropped his knife. Niku picked it up and placed it back into his hand
with another murmur about stopping.

“No.” He had to focus, no matter that his body felt battered from the inside out.

One single mistake could make the difference between finding Max, and finding Max’s body.

Kasan dug his claws into his spear and knife, keeping them clamped in
his hands, and controlled his growling, turning another
corner.

They came to another branching of tunnels and Ando-kees hesitated, head
raised in the air, before taking the left fork. Kasan would never stop
thanking his aunt for making them heal the beast, as long as he
continued to lead them to Max. With the length of the tunnel leading to
the Haven, he was sure they were already directly underneath the
forest. Trying to go out of the citadel and finding the Haven
from above would have been impossible at this time of year. The shokan
had their litters early in the season and they were wildly protective
and hyper-aggressive over the pups.

And the tosa made it worse. They were usually harmless, clearing the
detritus off the forest floor, but if they ever ran across a shokan pup
they would kill it if they could. The shokan tended to patrol the
surrounding forest to ensure there weren’t any of the pink leaf-eaters
too near their den.

Trying to get a group of Kyashin through the forest in these
conditions, dodging maddened shokan and hunting for a Haven that had
been lost for hundreds of years – impossible. Max would be lost without
Ando-kees.

Kasan tensed as they turned a corner and the shokan crouched down. He
could hear voices approaching from the side: another passageway. The
others behind him paused, noticing the shokan, but he didn’t think they
could hear the voices yet.

He passed the word in a hissing whisper and they all crept up to the
hallway, including Ando-kees. The large beast was hot next to Kasan,
panting next to his face, and it stared forward before looking back at
Kasan with its intense amber eyes.

“They took Max straight?” he whispered. The thing stared forward again,
bunching its muscles as though it were going to leap despite the group
coming. Kasan made a quick decision and whispered to the men behind
him. “You five – with me. The shokan looks like he’s going to cross the
corridor. If he does, follow. I’m sure we’ll be seen. If we’re lucky,
they’ll come after us and the rest of you can surprise them here. If
they run for help…you need to go after them yourselves. But I have to stay with Ando-kees and find my consort.”

They nodded, and sure enough, a few seconds after he finished,
Ando-kees shot across the hallway, Kasan and the guards he’d chosen
right behind him. There was a startled break in the purists’ low
conversation. His ears could pick up soft, rapid footsteps following.

And then shouts as the purists were jumped when they rounded the
corner, thinking they would be able to follow Kasan and get the jump on
him. He tried to ignore the
fighting behind him; Niku was with them. The old guard knew how to keep
his head; he’d make sure they made it through. He hoped the sounds were
soft enough that no one else would know what was coming, though.

With a jerk, he turned right as the shokan suddenly veered into a long,
narrow side tunnel. This place smelled even more used. Lived in, and
there were enough scents around, filling the air, that Kasan had
trouble distinguishing any one individual. But they were closer.
The scent was strong enough that he knew the guards behind him to could
smell it, too. Kasan could hear his men breathing, but no one said a
word as they crept down hallway after hallway.

One last hallway and suddenly the shokan lowered his body to the
ground, creeping forward now in a sinuous glide, the limp gone. Either
he was ignoring the pain, or he had actually healed up already. The
beast started towards an open doorway on the left hand side. Kasan
could hear the murmur of voices again. He gestured back at the others
to let them know.

And then he caught Max’s scent. Just a hint, but it was the first time
since they’d left the citadel and the small hint of fear and sweat with
it made Kasan see red. If they’d hurt him…

If they’d caused the smallest, most insignificant bruise…

The shokan slowed. They spread out, staying out of sight from the
doorway, readying themselves as they drew closer. Voices echoed up the
corridor – either it was a very large room, or they were down another
hallway - and Kasan focused on them as they crept forward.

“...heat-blinded moron! You didn’t even check its cage!”

“It’s not my damn job to maintain the cells!”

That was Waran! Kasan almost leapt in ahead of the shokan and caught
himself only because he stumbled against it. Ando-kees glared at him
and then carefully oozed around the corner. Kasan followed and saw an
open doorway at the end of a short hallway. There was movement inside,
more than the people currently arguing, but no one cried out. None of
them had glanced down the hall yet. Ando-kees eased forward ahead of
Kasan. The men and Kasan inched behind him.

Don’t look this way, Kasan thought. Just keep arguing.

“You will go find the Elders, Waran, and explain to them exactly how you managed to lose the human!”

“No I damn well won’t! You’re the one who’s in charge of the cells!”

“A competent Kyashin would have double checked all the cells before he
took care of his heat, not try to make excuses after the fact!”

“Are you calling me incompetent? You-”

There was a snarl and Kasan saw a streak as one body jumped on another.
The other men in the room tried to intervene, focusing on the fight,
and Ando-kees and Kasan’s men sprinted forward.

Ando-kees leapt through the door with a screaming snarl. Kasan snarled
just as loudly as he sprang after him. Everything was a focused
blur. Ando-kees streaked past the fight, into a darker area with broken
light globes. Kasan heard a scream and a small laser pistol discharged
into the ceiling. Another man on the side was bringing up a laser
pistol to bear as Davin and Mick charged him. Waran was turning from
his fight with a blond cat to face them. Two of the others with Kasan
leapt at the blond, and Kasan went for Waran.

Waran was trying to bring a gun of his own to bear just as Kasan
slammed into him and brought them both to the floor. The pistol
clattered to the ground.

He could hear his men fighting, snarls and grunts echoing in the room,
along with a shrill scream as Ando-kees roared, but most of his focus
was Waran. Shocked, familiar eyes looked up at him, eyes that Kasan had
trusted. They both snarled and
went for the throat. Kasan took a punch to the side of his face,
avoided one in the throat, and smashed Waran’s head against the ground.
He let himself take the battering from Waran’s fists, welcoming the
pain as he clawed at the man’s skin until the smell of his blood was
thick in the air.

They rolled over once, Waran getting the advantage for a wild moment
and then Kasan managed to slam his elbow in an arc against Waran’s head
hard enough to stun him for a moment, getting a knee between his legs
and snarling as felt it connect. Waran slumped back, dazed and gagging.

Kasan slammed his hand against Waran’s throat, claws out and embedded
in the skin. Just a little more pressure and he could rip out the
bastard’s throat and bathe in his blood and Waran would never, ever
hurt Max again.

He almost did it. He wanted Waran to suffer.
Pain slammed into him again, the heat searing his body. Kasan yanked
his claws free just before his hands convulsed into fists as his
muscles locked. He recovered before Waran realized what was happening.
The room was quiet except for murmurs and a pained groan from the back.

Shuddering, Kasan pushed himself off and grabbed the spear Davin handed
him. He hadn’t even realized he’d tossed it away, so focused on getting
his claws into Waran. Kasan clenched the weapon tightly. He couldn’t
kill him. Max wasn’t in the room, so they still needed to find him and
Waran knew where he was. Breathing in gasping pants, Kasan swiveled his
ears.

He could hear one of the guards giving a wounded man the antidote for
shokan poison – Ando-kees hadn’t held back - but he didn’t know if it
would really matter. With the size of his claws, Kasan couldn’t imagine
the wound would be minor. But no one knew if the purist had a mate or
consort who was innocent in this; they couldn’t let the man die. Not
until they knew.

But there was no fighting, nothing that needed his attention but Waran.

“Where’s Max?” Kasan snarled.

Waran looked up at him, one eye swelling shut, blood running from both
nostrils and out the corner of his mouth. It ran in rivulets down his
body from clawed gouges in his torso and arms. His ears were going
crazy atop his head.

Kasan pushed the spear up to the man’s throat, pressing in against the
soft flesh underneath his jaw. Waran and Shoru were in on this
together; Shoru could give answers just as easily as Waran, when they
found him. Kasan had no compunction about wounding him fatally. None at
all.

“Where is my consort? Where is Max?”

Waran swallowed and looked to the side at the doors lining the room. For the first time, Kasan noticed the locks on the outside of the doors. They were cells! Maybe Max was silent because he couldn’t hear them!

Kasan’s eyes snapped to the wall next to him, frowning at the familiar sound coming from the other side of the door. “Shoru?”

“And the prince wins a prize. Goody for you, dumbass. Now let me outta this shithole.”

“Let you out…” Keeping the spear tight to Waran’s throat, Kasan looked
up at the door and realized it was bolted from the outside. “You’re a prisoner here?”

“No shit.” Kasan was so surprised he couldn’t speak. Shoru snarled through the door. “What, you think I’m actually with
this asshole? Like I’d do something that stupid.” There was a litany of
incomprehensible grumbling curses that gave Kasan time to wrap his mind
around Shoru being held prisoner. “And before you go there, ‘cause I
know you will, I’ve never
been with Waran and whatever jack-assed, dick-brained plan he has to
mess with you and yours. Fuck. Who gives a shit if you’re a throwback
or not, doesn’t make you any more an asshole than every other bastard
I’ve met. Or any less, obviously.”

Kasan opened his mouth and nothing came out. He still thought Shoru was an ass. But if he hadn’t kidnapped Max….

“So let me outta this damn cell already!” There was a snarl and a thump against the door.

Kasan focused more completely on Waran, noting the nasty little spark
in his eyes as he glared at Kasan, even with the spear pressing in hard
enough that a drop of blood was beading up. Kasan pivoted the spear,
whipping it around in his hands to hit Waran in the head not quite hard
enough to kill him. The man collapsed against the wall. Kasan nodded to
Mick and they opened the door to Shoru’s cage. He stepped back, holding
the spear, as Shoru came out. Kasan couldn’t quite stand to think that
Shoru had actually been innocent in all of this, not completely. Not
yet.

Shoru came into the light of the room and Mick sucked in his breath.
Someone had beaten the ever-loving shit out of the man. One of his ears
was torn, his face was a wreck, and his chest looked more spotted with
bruising than patterned fur. He walked with a careful limp, and
watching him, Kasan didn’t think that was from a fight. Shoru looked down at Waran and kicked the unconscious man in the side before spitting on him.

“See how much they believe your shit now, asshole.”

Kasan swallowed, shaking his head. Shoru wasn’t…Shoru wasn’t part of
this. And Waran had betrayed them all…it was too much to deal with at
the moment. He needed Max.

“Where’s Max?” Kasan couldn’t keep his voice steady. Shoru looked up from Waran with another less-than-casual kick in the side.

“He went to find you.”

Kasan’s stomach dropped to his toes. “What?”

“He escaped.” Shoru spit on Waran again and kicked him viciously in the
ribs. Kasan heard one of them crack. “Skinny little rail, ain’t he?”

“But…he never found us.” What had happened to Max?

Shoru paused and snorted. “Yeah, somehow I figured that one out.”

Kasan grabbed Shoru by the shoulder and ignored the man’s wince as he spun him around. “Where did he go?!”

“The hell should I know?” Shoru jerked back, ears flattened. “It’s not
like I got out and held his hand for it! Just figured he’d have a
better chance outta the cells so I told him how to escape and he made a
run for it. He was supposed to try for the citadel. If he didn’t make
it, it’s not my fucking fault!”

Kasan stared at him a long moment, while Shoru’s scowl got deeper and
his ears went flatter. He’d…tried to help Max. Kasan still disliked the
man, but…he’d helped Max escape from the purists.

“Hey, none of that shit! I mean it!” he sputtered angrily. “You don’t
like me, and I sure as hell don’t like you any more than I used to, so
back the hell off.”

Kasan nodded and stepped back, swallowing as he realized that if Max
wasn’t here, he could be anywhere in the haven now. Or out of it.
They’d been so close, dammit! They-

Shoru kicked Waran one last time, ignoring Kasan now, and walked over to the cell next to his. He turned the lock.

“What are you doing?” Could Kasan have been wrong? “Who-?”

“Nobody you know. Don’t worry, go get your damn consort. Anyone can see
that your dick’s about to fall off, it’s so swollen for that ass.”

Kasan growled under his breath. The door opened slowly and a small body
hurtled out of the cell door at Shoru. Kasan almost shouted, stepping
forward with his spear up only to find himself staring at a young
throwback male who had wrapped himself around Shoru’s waist,
whimpering. The little one had a thin, black tail that curled
defensively around the youth’s thigh.

“Well fuck. Hey, kid, none of that shit now. You’re outta the cage,
just like I said, right? These guys won’t do shit to you like the
last ones. They’re assholes, but no worse than any other asshole.”

The boy seemed to be trying to burrow itself into Shoru’s skin.

“Fuck.” Shoru sighed heavily and glared at Kasan as he put one hand
over the smaller head nuzzling his waist. “Look, see, one of them is
just like you, and they don’t beat him up or anything.”

Kasan blinked as a small, dark head turned to look at him. He winced as
he looked into those eyes: total and utter distrust. The little one’s
back was covered with bruises and striped with scars. Kasan swallowed.

“What…what happened to him?” Kasan whispered.

“What do you think? Same thing that was gonna happen to your consort.
These purist psychos take samples from his body to do their shit
genetic testing, and then they beat on him when they get in a bad
mood. Fuck, what do they do to him – what a fucking stupid
question.” He turned down to the kid. “See? He’s so stupid he
doesn’t even know people are that shitty. You got no worries with him.
Why don’t you let go and hang out with one of these bastards, eh?
They’ll take care of you.”

The young Kyashin shook his head and buried his face against Shoru again.

“Oh for the love of- Fine, hold on like a fuckin’ chicken-shit lirling
for all I care. See if it makes a difference.” Shoru crossed his arms
and stood there, glaring Kasan as though daring him to laugh at him.
Kasan had no problem swallowing a smile. The sight of what they’d done
to a little wiped any mirth from the situation.

And they’d been planning that for Max? He shuddered, the pain in his body indistinguishable from the hollow ache in his chest.

Kasan looked down at Waran’s unconscious body and barely contained
himself enough not to kick him as well. Dammit, Max was all alone now,
among these insane monsters. He had to find him.

“Do you know which way Max went?” he asked hoarsely.

Shoru shrugged. “Made it out the main door here, I’m pretty sure.
That’s the only way out. I told him to try for the underground tunnel
back, but if he didn’t find that, then I’d guess he’s still in the
base, or he got out into the forest.”

“The…the forest? But-” No. Not out with the shokan ripping apart
anything that came near their territory. Max would have no chance. He
was so helpless, and he’d been counting on Kasan to take care of him
and-

Kasan’s tail began to puff out against his will. A low, whimpering growl started in his throat.

The shokan came out from the shadows at the end of the room where it
had been watching and Shoru seemed to see it for the fist time. “Holy
shit!” He shoved the kid off him and back into the cell before turning
to face the beast. Claws came out of his fingertips.

Kasan blinked. He felt numb, disconnected as he stared at the claws. “You’re a throwback,” he murmured.

Max was out in the forest.

“Do you see a fucking tail?” Shoru snapped, eyes on Ando-kees. “Just
got the claws, and what the fuck is wrong with you…why the hell is that
thing not ripping you apart?” His ears quivered up and then back
against his head as he tried to figure it out. He wouldn’t let the
youngster out of the cell.

“He likes Max,” Kasan said quietly. His chest burned as though someone had ripped out his heart. Max….

Ando-kees walked up and sat next to Kasan, staring at Shoru. The boy
peeked out from behind him and Shoru shoved him back into the cell
again, arms held up defensively. With a soft whuff, Ando-kees made a
small head bob and backed away a few steps. When it didn’t make another
move, Shoru finally started to relax. The small throwback peered from
underneath one of Shoru’s elbows, still not saying a word, and wrapped
his arms around Shoru’s waist again.

Shoru sighed and rolled his eyes. Kasan noted his jaw tightening as he
looked down and patted one of the emaciated arms holding onto him.

“Here, we’d better get you back to the citadel and get you some damn
food, kid, or you’ll never grow. You don’t want to be as short as
Kasan, now, do you?” The little one looked at Kasan and slowly
shook his head. “Okay, then c’mon.”

Kasan looked at Ando-kees and found the amber eye trained on his own
face. “You can still find Max, can’t you, beast?” he whispered. He had
to believe that. Kasan shoved the terror for his consort down into his
stomach and stared at Ando-kees. He heard Shoru moving toward the
doorway behind him. “We don’t have the rest of the base secure,” Kasan
pointed out hoarsely.

“I can find my way back just fine. Trust me, they’re not going to get
the drop on me again.” Shoru kicked Waran one more time and the
unconscious man groaned. “You guys can set him up in the cells,
right? We still got at least a couple years before the heat ends.”

Kasan swallowed, nodding. He didn’t turn to watch them go. Staring at
Ando-kees, Kasan groaned as another spike hit him hard enough to have
him stumble against the wall. The adrenaline had helped him fight off
the pain for a few minutes, but this spike was hitting him like a
falling tree. He sank to his knees.

“Kasan?” Davin came over and he waved them off.

He managed to grit out, “Heat spike. Don’t worry.”

“But to be that bad, you need to-“

“Need to get to my consort.”

Davin nodded slowly. The guards spoke amongst themselves as Kasan
pushed himself up off the wall. They had all the men in cells by the
time he managed it. The one left bleeding by Ando-kees had a bandage
already around his abdomen. It would be up to his nanites to see if he
healed well enough to survive.

“We can come back for these ones later,” Mick said. “We want you to
know…We’ll help go into the forest to find Max, if he made his way
there. We won’t abandon him.”

Kasan nodded, shaky and grateful beyond words. Ando-kees seemed to take
their words as a sign and finally headed out. Kasan supposed he should
be thankful it hadn’t left while he was trying to pick himself up off
the floor. At the end of the hallway, Ando-kees paused and turned left,
the opposite direction that they’d come from. Kasan caught a wisp of
Max’s terrified scent and pushed himself forward. He had to believe Max
was all right. There was no other possibility.

“I can’t believe they would do such a thing to a child,” Davin murmured behind him to another guard.

Kasan didn’t respond, but the same horror was in his mind, too.
Mistreating littles, betraying the family – he’d always thought the
purist group was misguided and bigoted, but he’d never thought they
were insane until the last few days.

He stumbled and instead of a Kyashin arm steadying him, Kasan fell
against Ando-kees. He automatically reached out to grab hold and
touched the fur on it’s back. It was surprisingly soft for being
so bristly. The animal looked at him, made some strange kind of sound –
almost like a small yip – and waited to move again until Kasan had
recovered himself.

Kasan sucked in his breath as he looked down the nearest wall, a corner
before another corridor intersected their own. A small set of
footprints marred the dust by the wall, side by side. He reached down
to touch them. Max had been here; he must have been looking around the
corner before he moved.

“Just keep being careful, little one. We’ll find you.” He rubbed his
fingers over the spot and stood up with a lurch as he heard voices.
Ando-kees whipped his head around to stare at him. The voices were
coming from around the corner, and even Kasan could see from the small
scuff in the dust that Max had gone in that direction. And there were
more voices than the seven of them could fight.

They’d have to hide.

They started to creep back down the hallway, listening as the words grew clearer.

“Don’t know why they’re taking so long to bring the little mutant.”

“They sent Zoru.”

“Oh fuck, you’re shitting me! Why would they even do that?”

“He’s Elder Sean’s son.”

“So what? The other Elders know what he’s like! I know the throwbacks
are abominations, but there’s no reason to beat on that kid as often as
he does. Gonna kill him one of these days. And they think he’d be safe
to take the human to the lab? Fuck. You should of told me; we’d better
hurry and make sure the damn thing’s okay.”

Kasan stumbled back down the hall, the others half-dragging him as they
dashed down a side corridor and around another curve, holding their
breath until the men had passed. Kasan cursed under his breath as he
and the others came back out and followed Max’s trail again. Any minute
now, they’d reach the cells, find them empty of the prisoners they were
supposed to have, and word would be out. And Waran might be free…fuck!

But they had to find Max. They couldn't stop to fight more people than
they could win out against and chance leaving Max to these bastards.
And if Max was up in the forest already – no, he’d be fine. He was
small, and quick – they’d all seen that in the Greeting room. Max just
had to hide until Kasan found him.

And more men would be coming soon from the family, might already be
here helping clear out this nest of insanity. They were so close.

Another corner, and then another, and then Andro-kees paused, his head
swiveling back and forth as he searched the floor. Kasan looked down
and caught another of Max’s footprints, the small imprint of a toe. And
then another overlaid on it…from the same foot – had he come this way
more than once? Kasan looked up at the placards on the walls, seeing
directions back to the citadel and for the nearest exit up into the
forest. He wished he or Zonta had taught Max to read. At least he might
have been able to find the passage back.

As soon as they found Max, Kasan was making sure the little one wouldn’t be in danger from his own ignorance ever again.

They turned, following Ando-kees, and this time there was no warning. A
group of men came around the corner and they ran into them so fast that
one of them literally bumped into Ando-kees and his surprised yell was
cut off as Ando-kees batted him against the wall. They were fighting in
the thick of things in seconds, battling a group of men the same size
as their own. Kasan caught a glancing cut off his forearm when he was
too slow to block it, and was almost gutted before Ando-kees knocked
another attacker off his feet. The others took care of the rest, but
not without a few more cuts and bruises.

Kasan swayed on his feet, pain ripping through him again as the
adrenaline pumped through his veins, and Mick came towards him,
concerned. Kasan waved him away again. The five guards looked at him
and pulled back to talk on the other side of the intersection. He
wasn’t sure they wouldn’t try to force him to go back – he knew he’d
nearly got himself killed, he’d been so clumsy during the fighting. But
he wasn’t damn well leaving without Max!

He leaned against Ando-kees. “I’m not going back,” he murmured. He
opened his mouth to say more and choked as men burst out from the side
hallway separating them. They didn’t seem to see Kasan, leaping around
the corner and over the other fallen purists to attack the other
guards. Shit! They must have heard them fighting!

Ando-kees jumped into the fray, managing to get one purist from the
back before they realized he was there, but then he had to leap back to
avoid being gutted by a spear.

Kasan tried to join them, but another stab of pain hit him so hard he
dropped to his knees before he could take a step. He planted his palms
on the floor, trying to move, and almost died yet again as a purist got
by Andro-kees and stabbed down. Kasan managed to roll in time to get
his spear up and the man impaled himself.

Kasan shuddered as he pulled the spear free. Ando-kees backed up and
let him lean on him. They faced the few men who weren’t after the other
five guards, bodies lying limply on the ground around them.

Davin shouted, not visible through the mass of bodies. “Kasan, just go!”

“Not a chance in hell,” Kasan shouted back. God, there were too many of them.

Mick yelled back. “Go! You can’t fight them! GO!”

Kasan looked at the mass of bodies. If he and the others had been on
the same side, they could have backed into a defensible space and held
it until help came, but divided, he didn’t see how they could succeed.
“Pull back, then!” He yelled, pulling back himself. They were on Max’s
trail still. He and the shokan might be able to make it. He couldn’t
leave Max out there alone, but to leave them like this….

“Of course!”

Kasan glared at the spot – he knew that tone of voice. They weren’t
going to pull back. They’d keep at the purists to try and force them to
stay and not to follow Kasan. And nothing Kasan was going to say could
stop them. Damn those stupid, self-sacrificing idiots.

Kasan closed his eyes, feeling the sting in them that he blinked away.
But he had to rescue Max. He was his consort’s only chance.

“You’d better not get your sorry asses killed or I’ll come back and kick them down this whole hallway!” Kasan yelled back.

He heard a chorus of agreements, telling him the same thing, and then
he and Ando-kees backed down the hallway as fast as they could. Only a
few purists followed them – probably didn’t want to face a shokan and
couldn't understand why Kasan was right next to it, unharmed.

Andro-kees and Kasan backed around a corner and took two of the purists
as they tried to follow. Both fell with a scream, bleeding. Another
fell at the next corner. Ando-kees’ claws and Kasan’s spear blade were
red. He wiped the blade clean on his loincloth as he continued to back
down the hallway, but minutes later, there was still no one following
down the hallway. Whatever courage their pursuers had had left
them after losing men to a shokan…or they left to get reinforcements
first. Cursing, Kasan stumbled on with Ando-kees, picking up the pace.
He couldn’t keep thoughts of just how many people he loved were in
danger right now; he’d go insane.

He concentrated on moving as fast as he could, instead, following
Andro-kees. After a number of turns, they tracked Max’s trail until
they hit a staircase heading up to an exit into the forest. They
followed it up just a few steps before it ended in an old cave in.
Kasan swallowed the lump in his throat, looking at the rubble. Peering
into the small area, Kasan could see a few smears along old dust where
Max had crawled in. And gouges where other Kyashin had tried to drag
him out.

Had they succeeded?

“Max? Are you there? It’s safe now. You can come out.”

Kasan didn’t really expect an answer. He couldn’t even hear
breathing, so there was no reason why he should be disappointed that
Max hadn’t answered, but it still hurt. Andro-kees prowled at the
base of the rubble, grumbling and growling, and Kasan despaired over
what to do next. Did someone else have Max, or had he made it out?
Standing there, swaying on his feet, Kasan tried to use his numbed mind
to actually think, and he felt a thread of air snaking down through the jumble of rocks. It smelled strongly of flowers and dark earth.

Someone had left the door open to the forest. It had to be Max. No one
else would be that ignorant. He’d made it into the forest.

Kasan’s skin felt like ice over the heat inside his veins. Max was out there, alone. Not being tortured, but the other shokan….

“We have to find another way up.” Andro-kees looked at him and they
both climbed down the stairs. Kasan looked at the small signs in the
hallway and found another exit, only a few hallways down. They made it
all the way up to the doorway outside without seeing another soul.
There was no guard – who would even find the doorway, from the forest
side? – and Kasan stared out into the woods.

The air was thick with the smell of the forest, so thick that Kasan
could barely smell the shokan next to him. They wouldn’t be able
to track Max until they found the other exit, but he thought he knew
where it would be. He’d tried to keep track of the turns underground so
he could pinpoint it above.

Kasan took a deep breath and looked over at Andro-kees. It was just the two of them. “All right, shokan. Let’s go get Max.”